Having attitude also means that we must have motivation and confidence! If we do not have this “attitude” then we will not solve the problem. She reminds us that is not easy to come up with really big ideas let alone bring them to life. But she shared that most people see themselves as puzzle builders who are looking for a specific piece of the puzzle. Or what if they are building a puzzle and not know what piece is missing? So then you can’t finish the puzzle.

But true innovators and entrepreneurs are quilt makers. They take all of the things at their disposal and truly leverage them to make amazing things happen. So we need to actualize ourselves as a quilt maker rather than a puzzle maker!

How does “Attitude” fit into Tina’s “Innovation Engine?” Well we first must have a conversation about the “knowledge” component. We all must start with a base of knowledge to develop our imaginations which in turn help us to cultivate creativity. Knowledge is very much so the tool box for our imagination and the more we know the more we have to work with. In order for us to come up with revolutionary eLearning, we must first know a little something about the field, technology, education, instructional design, our learners… and all that jazz.

But how do we get knowledge? We can get knowledge by observing and paying attention! That is a no brainer but maybe not. She shared that we often don’t pay attention to our world in a way where we really find interesting opportunities… and often the solution is waiting right in front of us. She shared an example of David Friedberg who thought of selling weather insurance who have companies that are effected by the weather—Climate Corporation. He came up with this idea as he drove to work on a rainy day in San Francisco and saw a bike rental place closed because of the rain. Would this have happened if he wasn’t paying attention?

I take this to heart when it comes to eLearning. I aspire to take as much eLearning that I can so that I can build my own awareness of what works and doesn’t from the student’s perspective. There is so much we can learn about just through focused observation. Do you see how knowledge is the toolbox for your imagination? I love then how Tina tells us that “our imagination is the catalyst for the transformation of the knowledge into new ideas. It is our attitude that is the spark that gets it going.”

What do you think? How do you build your eLearning knowledge? Do you feel like building that knowledge will help you to think more creatively about it? Have a different attitude toward it? I look forward to hearing from you in the comments and on Twitter.

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About DaveHallmon

With experience in web, graphic, and instructional design, Dave maintains a balance between what is efficient and effective in every message. He always focuses on the why and how rather than "just doing it" to get the job done.
By day he works at a leading university designing online courses that support 9,000 students in 64 countries. He works directly with faculty to brainstorm, design, and develop their online instruction utilizing the Adobe suite. He also teaches for the university as an adjunct faculty member in the area of web design.
By night he is a devoted husband, father, freelancer, and adventurer of the outdoors. His other interests include LifeHacker, Science Fiction and Hayao Miyazaki movies, Settlers of Catan, and coffee with friends.
He currently lives in St. Louis and has an M.S. in Instructional Design and aspires to pursue a professional degree in content marketing and strategy. Visit the links below for more information about his interests and design work.

4 Responses to Do you have the right attitude toward your eLearning?

Creativity cannot exist in a vacuum. I like to think of it as the building of new connections between what already exists. That includes knowledge (our own and others’) and new observations. David Freidberg’s weather-insurance connection was one that anybody could have made – but, as you say, he had an open mind and attitude and made that connection. All of us in a fast-moving field like elearning have a responsibility to be as open to new ideas and to keep observing what’s happening around us – not only to build our knowledge, but also to challenge our pre-conceptions.